Japanese shipping major Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd’s group company, Daibiru Corporation, has forayed into India’s real estate business with an investment of $123.5 million to join the Atrium Place Project, an office building development project near Delhi. This will be along with Hines, a global real estate investment, development, management, and operation company. This will be through Daibiru Hines Trust, which was established in Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City).
As part of its expansion plan in India, Daibiru is actively pursuing more investment opportunities in India, including in cities like Mumbai and Bengaluru, in addition to Delhi/Gurugram. Daibiru will also continue to actively invest overseas by leveraging the global network of Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd., its 100 per cent shareholder, according to the company statement.
The project, Daibiru’s first in India, involves the construction of four A+ grade office buildings with a leased floor area of about 3 million sq ft and a parking lot on 11.76 acres of land in the Central Business District of Gurugram, near Delhi. Construction is underway, and the building is scheduled to be completed in 2025, according to a release from the shipping major.
In the “BLUE ACTION 2035” management plan launched in March 2023, the MOL Group is working to diversify its business portfolio by increasing the weight of non-shipping, stable revenue businesses that counter-balance the volatile shipping market. The group is also following a regional strategy as a key to driving overseas investment, including business development in emerging countries with promising economic growth prospects, drawing upon its overseas network. India, with its promising economic growth prospects, is a key pillar of the MOL Group’s strategy. This investment follows other recent major investments, such as the formation of a rapidly growing shipping business through MOL India.
Daibiru possesses 100-plus years of expertise in the office building business in Japan, and has participated in overseas building development projects in Vietnam and Australia Daibiru and MOL’s regional organizations, which develop businesses globally, will continue to cooperate and proactively engage in real property business overseas.
The investment takes advantage of the new investment platform created by the Government of India through GIFT City, which offers regulatory, tax and other benefits, the release said.
